What is Dryer

A supercritical steam (or Rankine) cycle is used today for more most of the new coal-fired power plants. More recently, it has been proposed as well for future water-cooled nuclear reactors to enhance their efficiency and to reduce their costs. This chapter provides the technical background explaining this technology. Some criteria for boiler design and operation, like drum or once-through boiler design, fixed or sliding pressure operation, and coolant mixing, are discussed in general to explain the particular challenges of supercritical steam cycles. Examples of technical solutions are given for two large-scale applications: a coal-fired power plant and a supercritical water-cooled reactor, both producing around 1000 MW electric power.